Genesis: How we started

The origins of our Ladies' Soccer Team can be traced back to a period from around 1993 to 1994, when a group of friends came together to play street soccer every Sunday at the NUS handball courts, from 11am to about 1pm (yes, people thought we were mad to be playing around noon. The courts were usually empty except for our group!).

Who were we? The core group was made up of a bunch of friends (guys and girls) from St John's-St Margaret's Church, plus Martha and Ling, whom I knew through work and saxophone lessons, and her sisters Ying and Ping. All of us also pulled in other friends to be part of our group. Who among our group could forget Kaifoong's friend and fellow NTU lecturer Ramin, the bald Andre Agassi lookalike who became a regular?

The girls among us weren't experienced footballers - we were there either because we were longtime football fans who wanted finally to realise our dream of actually playing footie, or we were non-football fans who came for the company and the fun. Ling and Ping used to play football back in high school.

Picture taken of mainly just the girls because it was Ling's birthday (note the bouquet)
Back row (from left): Yili, Connie, Ling, Ying, Julia, Lynette, Lionel
Front row (from left): Hur, John, Mark, Martha, Adeline, Ping

Who were the Law people among us? There was me (Hur), Ling, Martha, Julia Low, Andrew Ong, Kenny (a real twinkletoes of a dribbler), and (once in a while) a few friends of Kenny's.

Practically every Sunday we would be there, and most weeks there would be some new friends dropping by, brought by one of us. It was a great way to get to know new people. When we were done, we would adjourn to a nearby hawker centre for lunch.

So what happened to this group? It petered out around 1994, maybe 1995, as the members dropped out one by one for different reasons. Lynette and Connie went abroad to further their studies/career. Adeline's knees were really giving her lots of trouble. People got married, e.g. Julia, Andrew Ong. Some lost interest, especially as the group shrank. It just wasn't so fun anymore when so many of your friends weren't there.

When it finally died out, I had all but resigned myself to never playing football again. Then Ling became convenor for the Law Soc netball team in 1996, and together with Susan they managed to persuade the Powers that Be to include Ladies' Soccer for the B&B Games. She then issued the call to Martha and me, and boy, was I excited! My first experience of football on grass! I get to wear football boots! The real deal!

What I discovered about playing on grass:

1. wow, the field is so big! Have to pass and kick harder, further and higher!
2. hey, grass is so much softer! Can really dive for the ball without fear!
3. whoa, the goalposts are humongous! This is not at all like guarding a handball goalpost!

So began the journey of the pioneer batch of footballers in the Law Soc Ladies' Team. We got to know one another, and also the guy friends that "tagged along" faithfully. We started practising for the 1996 B&B Games by ..... but that is another story . :-)

The Hur